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Home , Kamchatka Peninsula, Watercock

96 Short note Notornis, 2010, Vol. 57: 96-97 0029-4470 © The Ornithological Society of New Zealand, Inc.

SHORT NOTE

First documented record of watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) in

DONALD W. BUDEN* Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, College of -FSM. P.O. Box 159, Kolonia, Pohnpei, Federated States of Micronesia GLENN MCKINLAY C/-55 Albert Road. Devonport, Auckland, New Zealand

The watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) breeds from Pratt et al. (1987) listed this species as hypothetical , , and the Maldive Is east to , in Palau, based on an unconfirmed sighting by R. P. , (Yaeyama Is), the Russian Far Owen that was mentioned in correspondence from East (Primorskiy Teritory, Bol’shoy Pelis I), the Owen to Pratt. , and Greater Sunda Is (Brazil 1991; Kosrae (5˚19’N, 162˚59’E; 109 km2; 630 m Mackinnon & Phillipps 1993; Taylor 1996; Coates elevation) is the easternmost island in the Caroline Is & Bishop 1997; Grimmett et al. 1999; Smythies & and the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), in the Davison 1999; Strange 2001; Shimba 2007; Mann west-central (Fig. 2). The watercock 2008; Nechaev & Gamova 2009). from the was found in a grassy field just outside Utwe northern part of the range regularly migrate to village at the south end of the island. McKinlay as far south as the Lesser Sundas, (Mackinnon & saw it initially the morning of 1 May, once again Phillipps 1993, 2000; Taylor 1996; Taylor & van Perlo during late afternoon (presumably the same ), 1998; Strange 2001). A few, probably overshooting and once again during mid-afternoon on 2 May their wintering destination, have been recorded before he left the island the following day. The field in Australian Territory, including was bordered on 2 sides by a brackish tidal area several observed on Christmas I since 1972 and dominated by mangroves and nypa palms (Nypa one captured and released at Cocos (Keeling) Is in fruiticans) and the nearest houses were ~100 m away Dec 2005 (Chongkin et al. 2009). The watercock is and out of sight behind dense vegetation. The bird vagrant on the Arabian in Oman (Porter was observed turning small clumps of dried grass et al. 1996), and in the Russian as cuttings as it foraged in the field, but no prey items as the Peninsula and Commander I were identified. It did not vocalize and was never (Artuchin et al. 2000; Nechaev & Gamova 2009; observed flying. It was generally unperturbed by Gerasimov, pers. comm.). people quietly walking by, but it ran into taller On 1 May 2010, G. McKinlay visited Kosrae I, grasses when more boisterous groups were present, Micronesia, and photographed a bird he identified and emerged to continue feeding when they passed. as a watercock (Fig. 1). This is the first documented The bird approached to within 8-10 m of McKinlay record of the watercock in Oceania (including the as he observed it from a car parked on the gravel islands of Micronesia, , and ). road immediately adjacent to the field. In coloration and pattern of its plumage, the bird resembled Received 15 Jun 2010; accepted 28 Jul 2010 either a female, nonbreeding male, or a juvenile, but *Correspondence: [email protected] the pinkish-orange coloration at the base of the bill Short note 97

Fig. 1. Watercock (Gallicrex cinerea) on Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia on 1 May 2010. Fig. 2. Location of Kosrae and adjacent islands in the west and frontal shield was more suggestive of a male. central Pacific Ocean. The arrival time and source of the watercock on Kosrae bird are uncertain. Kosraens with some Chongkin, M-S; Macrae, I.; McAllan, I.A.W. 2009. A knowledge of the island’s fauna were unfamiliar record of a watercock in the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. with this species when shown photographs and Australian Field Ornithology 26: 15-18. queried by McKinlay. The nearest breeding Grimmett, R.; Inskipp, C; Inskipp, T. 1999. A guide to the populations of the watercock are in the Philippines, birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri ~ 4000 km to the west, and the nearest migrants are lanka, and the . Princeton: Princeton University Press. those recorded (albeit rarely) in the Izu and Iwo Is MacKinnon, J.; Phillipps, K. 1993. A field guide to the birds of southern Japan, about 3100 km to the northwest. of Borneo, Sumatra, Java, and Bali. Oxford: Oxford Interestingly, Buden & Retogral (2010) reported on University Press. the recent expansion of another rallid, the white- MacKinnon, J.; Phillipps, K. 2000. A field guide to the birds of breasted waterhen ( phoenicurus), into China. New York: Oxford University Press. Micronesia. However, there is no evidence to Mann, C.F. 2008. The birds of Borneo: an annotated checklist. suggest that the watercock on Kosrae is anything BOU checklist series: 23. Peterborough, UK. British other than a long distance vagrant that has traveled Ornithologists’ Union/British Ornithologists’ Club. at least 3,000 km, and probably much farther, from Nechaev, V.A.; Gamova, T.V. 2009. Birds of the (An annotated catalogue). Vladivostok. Dal’nauka. its point of origin. Porter, R.P.; Christensen, S.; Schirmacker-Hansen, P. 1996. Field guide to birds of the . London: T & A.D. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Poyser. We thank Walter Boles, Ian McAllan, Kiyoaki Ozaki, Pratt, H.D.; Bruner, P.L.; Berrett, D.G. 1987. A field guide Alison Pirie, and Jeremiah Trimble for assistance with to the birds of Hawaii and the tropical Pacific. Princeton: the literature search and are especially grateful to Yuri Princeton University Press. Gerasimov and Vladimir Loskot for English translations Shimba, T. 2007. A photographic guide to the birds of Japan and of records from the Russian Far East. We also thank Carlo North-East . New Haven: Yale University Press. Custodio and Philip Round for comments regarding the Smythies, B.E.; Davison, G.W.H. 1999. The birds of Borneo. identification, age, and sex of the specimen photographed (4th edition). Borneo Malayasia: Natural History on Kosrae. Publications. Strange, M. 2001. A photographic guide to the birds of LITERATURE CITED . Princeton: Princeton University Press. Artuchin, Y.B.; Gerasimov, Y.N.; Loblov, E.G. 2000. Taylor, P.B. 1996. Family Rallidae (rails, gallinules and Catalog of vertebrates of Kamchatka, and adjacent waters. coots). pp. 108-209. In: del Hoyo, J.; Elliott, A.; Sargatal, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatskiy. J. (ed.), Handbook of birds of the world. Vol 3. Hoatzin to Brazil, M.A. 1991. The birds of Japan. Washington, DC. auks. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. Smithsonian Institution Press. Taylor, B; van Perlo, B. 1998. A guide to the rails, crakes, Buden, D.W.; Retogral, S. 2010. Range expansion of the gallinules and coots of the world. New Haven: Yale white-breasted waterhen (Amaurornis phoenicurus) into University Press. Micronesia. Wilson Journal of Ornithology 122: 784-788. Coates, B.J.; Bishop, K.D. 1997. A guide to the birds of Wallacea: Sulawesi, The Moluccas and Lesser , Keywords Watercock; Gallicrex cinerea; Kosrae; Micronesia; Indonesia. Alderly, . Dove Publications. Oceania